OGE Posts Refresher on Misuse of Position

The Office of Government Ethics (OGE) published a director’s note last week, reminding Executive Branch employees about the misuse of position and a set of ethics rules contained in the Standards of Ethical Conduct.

The post notes that these rules “serve to guard the federal service against ethical problems that could undermine public confidence in the integrity of the government’s operations. They regulate such things as conflicts of interest, misuse of position, impartiality, and gifts.”

It also lays out that the rule against misuse of position prohibits employees from:

Using public office for their own private gain for the private gain of friends, relatives, or persons with whom they are affiliated in a non-government capacity;

Endorsing any product, service, or company;

Engaging in financial transactions using nonpublic information, or allowing the improper use of nonpublic information to further private interests; and

Misusing government property or official time.

The director’s note ended by announcing a refresher on the impartiality rule would be published on OGE’s site later this month.